


Special Day

by RiYuYami



Series: Pulling Strings [25]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Backstory, Gen, Minor Injuries, Someone isn't having the best birthday, post-escape, pre-escape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 13:37:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13637346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiYuYami/pseuds/RiYuYami
Summary: A birthday is meant to be a special occasion, but when the worst day of your life happens to also be that same day, you just… want to forget about it.How can one day have so many things tied to it?





	Special Day

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the lack of activity lately. 
> 
> I’m sort of on a short hiatus due to school, illness, depression, and a big project I’m working on that’s on one of my side accounts on tumblr.
> 
> But it’s Bendy’s birthday! How can I just up and forget about my favorite demon on his big day?! So I decided to write this up for you guys. It’s a flashback and a present-day one-shot, so it fits both with the events of Matinee and all the one-shots I’ve been writing for the rest of Pulling Strings.
> 
> On with the fic!

_February 10 th, 1933_

Henry glared at the math book that sat in front of him on his desk, he didn’t want to do any of this, algebra wasn’t going to help him down the line when he became a great artist! He glowered at the book before slamming it shut, he’d do his homework later, right now, his hands were itching to draw!

He flipped his notebook to a clean page, then grabbed for his pencil. “Hmm… what to draw today…”

Earlier in the day, he had come up with an idea, but he wasn’t sure of it at first. He knew that a lot of animation studios had a male character for a mascot, often dark in color cause of the use of ink and them being an animal or something and were on the short side.

He had pondered on the concept of doing something like that, for his and Joey’s dream studio. He glanced at the framed photo on the desk. Joey was already off at college, studying business so he could figure out how to run the studio. He smiled at the photo of himself, looking cheeky and happy, next to a disgruntled Joey who was trying to smile.

Hmm…

Maybe he should follow the basic formula, but create a cheeky character that no one had seen yet, no one has bothered to even work with!

But what worked best?

Henry stared at the photo again, remember how annoyed Joey had been with him when it was taken. It was the photo from their choir event for the church, when Henry had climbed up a tree to show off, then fell. He remembered when he got up off the ground, his mouth bleeding from where he lost a tooth, and he had happily ran off to show Joey the tooth. He even tried to get him to touch the gum, doing this right in front of a bunch of adults and this girl that Joey had a crush on.

Joey had pulled him aside and got on him, telling him that if he didn’t know any better, he swore that Henry was the devil himself.

It was as if a lightbulb turned on in Henry’s head at this memory.

A devil… yes, yes! A devil! He hadn’t seen much of those in cartoons except as an evil character to torment the protagonist! But what if he reversed this, what if he made a devil as a protagonist instead!

Henry started to draw a circle, a basic shape, before he worked on other simple shapes for the body, the limbs. He gave the demon big boots, with a shine to them, then gloved hands, like so many other characters had. Then he gave him a bowtie, matching the one Henry wore in the photo. He even added a tail, though he wasn’t sure on that, but it looked pretty okay.

Next came the design for the head, he worked with the circle, but put a curve in the top, like a crescent moon, making a set of horns. He didn’t want this little imp to look evil, he wanted him to look cute, simple, something that wouldn’t frighten people.

He then began to design the face, big pie-cut eyes full of delight, and a cheeky grin to finish him off.

Henry stared down at the sketch, tilting his head as he looked at the demon. “Heh, hey there, let’s see… you need a name, right? What’s a good name, a memorable name for a memorable guy like you’ll be.”

He tried to think of something good, something that would be fitting. As he pondered over names, Henry began to draw more of the little guy, in different poses and actions. The idea of this guy being active and being a natural star entertained the artist, and he decided that the demon should be an entertainer, a dancer! He had considered making him an artist, since Henry couldn’t resist putting a bit of his childish personality into the character, but a dancer seemed fitting for this bendy little imp.

“Bendy…” He spoke out loud, before grinning. “Bendy! Bendy the Dancin’ Demon! That’s perfect for ya!”

Quickly, he wrote it down on the top of the page, along with the date. “Bendy, you’re gonna be mah magnum opus! Whatever that means, haha!” Henry smiled down at the drawings. “We’re gonna do great things together, you an’ me.”

\--

_February 10 th, 1943_

Henry took one last look at the studio, holding on tightly to the box containing his stuff. Maybe… one day he would come back…

“A promise is a promise… well, I promise to you, Joey, that I’ll come back…”

\--

_February 10 th, 1972_

Joey frowned deeply, the studio was… too quiet for his liking.

He could hear the humming of the Ink Machine, the slushing of ink in the pipes, the creaking of the building… but he did not hear any other sounds as he rolled himself down the halls. Where was everyone, he couldn’t find a single creature in sight, not even one of those disgusting mistakes, or even Boris.

He paused though, closing his eyes as he tried to hear for anything over the sounds of the building. Faintly, just faintly… he could hear someone singing, coming from the direction of the machine. Joey tensed up, suddenly aware of the cutouts nearby, of the little plush Bendy that sat in an empty, dusty chair.

It felt like they were watching him, the singing seemed to have gotten just a little bit louder.

He huffed, shaking his head as he moved towards the Ink Machine room. He turned the corner, staring down the long hallway, seeing the light on in the room. The singing was coming from there, he could see the inky lines on the walls, slipping out to trail out of the doorway.

“Bendy…” The director growled under his breath. What was that mistake up to now? Well… he needed to speak to Bendy anyway, considering that it’s been rather difficult to track him down in the building lately, especially after the fifth clone was murdered.

As Joey got closer to the room, he noticed the song. It was the birthday song, and Bendy was singing it, over and over, saying his name. Why was he singing it? Was it a trick?

“Bendy?” Joey questioned once he pushed himself into the room, eyes wide as he looked at the cartoon demon, sitting next to the machine. On his lap was the latest clone, the sixth, just laying there. Its eyes were wide, its plastic grin painfully in place, as Bendy sang and pet its head between its horns.

Bendy looked up and Joey felt cold dread pool in his stomach.

Something was terrible off-model with Bendy’s face. His grin was strained, like he was forcing it with all his might. One eye was completely soaked in ink, but the other was completely different. It wasn’t pie-cut, it was a strange, unsettling cartoonish eye, and it stared right at him. Only once before had Joey seen such an eye, on a cardboard cutout he had stumbled upon by accident.

He remembered the cutout clearly, the one that leaked ink, that made demonic sounds, and held up a sign with a warning on it.

“Hello, Joey.” Bendy commented, the lines on the walls pulsated more, and Joey’s chest hurt. “I see ya made another copy of me. Did ya know dat they’re unstable? They’re always in pain, an' they _beg_ me ta die?”

Joey glared at the Toon. “What are you going on about now, Bendy?”

“I just figured ya wanted ta see what I’ve been doin' to yer replacements! Ready?” He turned to the clone, who simply nodded, closing its eyes as Bendy’s inky lines coated it.

Brown eyes widened in shock as he watched the Bendy clone dissolve without any form of protest, the ink soaking up into the regular Bendy, who rose to his feet. “Ta-da!” He laughed, his voice full of unsettling glee.

“Bendy, what the hell do you think you’re doing? The more you misbehave, the more I have to punish you to teach you a damn lesson! I will shut off the machine again! And I _will_ keep it off this time!”

Bendy snorted and turned to face him. “Shut it, ol’ man. Haven’t ya realized dat da more ya punish me… **the more demonic I become…?** **Ya think you’re gonna just keep bossin’ me around, Drew?** ” He started to laugh, and it sounded so wrong, so distorted…

Joey gulped, watching as Bendy slowly began to approach him, humming the birthday song to himself. As he walked, Joey saw that Bendy’s form… it began to change. Ink dripped off of him in long, sticky tendrils and drops, his limps twisting and stretching painfully as his body began to change. His grin twitched, his humming sounding strained and painful as his face began to become coated in ink, all except for his grin.

The director took notice to all the places that changed, places that… he had damaged during his anger-fueled attacks on the cartoon. “Bendy… s-stay back…!” He shouted as he pushed himself back, trying to get back into the hall, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Bendy, making him bump into something behind him.

 **“Hehehehe…”** Bendy’s head twitched, his grin never once changing. **“Did ya know, Drew… dat’s its mah birthday today… ol’ Ross first drew me today… years ago… but dat don’t matter much anymore… you don’t care, you never did… ya just wanna keep controllin’ me, keep bossin’ me around…”**

When had he gotten so close?! Joey gasped, Bendy towered over him, the lines were everywhere, slowly crawling up the human as he stared at the Ink Demon in fear. Is… is this what those in the lower levels spoke about? The demon that killed without mercy…

 **“No more! I ain’t gonna be your punchin’ bag anymore, Joey!”** Bendy shouted, his grin still there, mocking Joey. **“Put a big ol’ smile on yer face, Drew! I want you lookin’ chipper and happy while I tear you apart! Just like you did to me! Twelve times!”**

Joey gasped, his instinct of fight or flight kicking in, and mixing together. He wasn’t going to die today, not after he’s worked so hard!

With a sharp turn, a hard tug of his chair, Joey dodged swipe for his face, and pushed past Bendy, running a wheel over his foot, hard. He heard an ear-shattering scream from Bendy, turning for a quick second to see that he had split the demon’s right foot in two. With Bendy distracted by his injury, Joey pushed himself as fast as he could to the machine, his hand ready to turn it off as he looked at Bendy.

Bendy hissed in pain, turning his head to blindly look at Joey, knowing he was there. Just as he rose up to attack, the machine was shut off. Bendy froze up, snarling in fear and anger, before he ran as fast as his damaged feet could go, he needed… he needed the pipes!

Joey glared, watching the demon run off to hide, before he sighed deeply. “Happy birthday, Bendy…” He huffed, turning away from the machine, he hoped that this time… Bendy would learn his lesson.

\--

_February 10 th, 1973_

“Alright Joey, I’m here. Let’s see if we can find what you wanted me to see."

\--

_February 10 th, 1974_

Bendy curled up in Henry’s bed, he hadn’t really moved from it since he woke up that morning, no matter how many times the old animator told him to get up.

He sighed, looking at the Bendy plushie under the blanket with him. “It’s my birthday…” He mumbled quietly to it. “And I don’t wanna celebrate it, stupid Joey ruined it for me.”

He knew he was being whiny and pathetic, being mad at something from a while ago. But then again… he was trapped in the pipes for a whole year! Joey just left him in there, left him to rot in the ink, never wanting him to come out ever again! He groaned and slapped his face, feeling himself beginning the drip a bit. Nope, no, not doing that, he’ll ruin Henry’s sheets if he stained them with ink!

There was a small knock on the door, before it opened. “Bendy?” That was Henry’s voice, but the demon didn’t acknowledge him. There was a shuffling, before the bed sank a bit, creaking. “Bendy, come on, you’ve been in bed all day, it’s dinner time.”

Bendy grunted and curled up even more, there was a squeak from his toy when he squeezed it. Henry sighed and pulled back the blanket, looking at Bendy. “Come on, you can’t hide in here all day.”

“Yes, I can.”

“No, not today. It’s your birthday.”

He growled and looked up at Henry, glaring deeply. “I know it is! An’ I don’t care! It’s a bad, awful day!”

Henry frowned and started to pet his head. “Wanna tell me why?”

Bendy shifted, wanting to tell Henry to go away, but… he always did feel a bit better after he spoke with his creator. With a loud, overly-dramatic sigh, Bendy rolled onto his back to look up at him. “Two years ago, the worst day of mah life happened. I killed da last clone, I told ya Joey made more of me, yeah? Anyway, I killed ‘em, in front of Joey, and then… I turned into the Ink Demon, I was ready to kill him, tear him apart, just… destroy him! But you know what he did? Joey ran over my foot an’ distracted me, got to the machine before I could get ‘em, and turned it off. Then he left it off for a whole year!”

He was leaking, and he wiped at the ink on his forehead. “You came back on my birthday, I dunno if you even realized dat.”

“I actually did.” Henry replied. “I thought it was fitting.”

“Hmm… I guess, but I was in the pipes for a whole year… an’ even before dat day… no one remembered my birthday anyway. Not even Boris or Alice, you… you were always the only one ta remember…” Bendy remembered sketches of himself, happily opening gifts, wearing a party hat, eating cake, all things Henry drew every February 10th, until he was kicked out of the studio.

He frowned, looking up at the human. “Did you… ever forget my birthday?”

Henry shook his head. “I didn’t really draw much after the war, so I don’t have many birthday sketches, but I always said a greeting to your original sketches on this date.” He smiled, petting Bendy’s head again, between the horns.

“I know you didn’t have a good time on your birthday in the past, but I think we can change that.” He scooped the demon up, much to his protests, and carried him out of the room. He ignored Bendy’s complaints until he got to the kitchen, where the shouts stopped abruptly at the sight inside.

Bendy’s eyes grew as he looked at the set up on the table. There were a few wrapped gifts at one end, even a big red balloon was tied to a chair, Bendy’s chair. On the table was a chocolate cake, with rainbow candles stuck in it, a little frosting drawing of Bendy’s face in the center of the ring of candles.

Boris and Alice were standing there, smiling brightly. “Happy birthday, Bendy!” They both shouted with joy.

“We made your favorite dinner!” Alice smiled sweetly at him.

“An’ we got ya lotsa presents!” Boris gestured to the gifts.

Bendy blinked and looked at them, before looking up at Henry, who smiled a bit at him. “Happy birthday, Bendy.”

Bendy felt a smile come to his face as he rubbed his eyes. “Aw, come on ya guys, you’re makin’ me leak.” He laughed as he was set down at the table. He didn’t know what made them want to celebrate this day that held a lot of bad memories to it, but… maybe this could be a good memory he can associate with today.

Yeah, that sounds like a swell idea.

END

**Author's Note:**

> It’s sappy at the end, but I like that kinda stuff.
> 
> I felt like it would be important to stick a bunch of big, important events in this au all on Bendy’s birthday, as it’s a big deal (considering that today is the day the game launched!).
> 
> I referenced a few other fics in this story, like Perfectly Imperfect, A Baker’s Dozen of Demons, Home for the Holidays, and A Promise is a Promise.
> 
> Anyway, happy birthday, Bendy! Can’t wait to play chapter four! 
> 
> Thanks for reading, please kudos and comment!


End file.
